GORGACCE VACATION RENTALS

1. Are bed linen and towels included in the rental?
- Yes. The beds will be made ready for your arrival, and there will be towels put out for you. At some houses pool towels are also supplied, and this is indicated on the website. If there is no indication, then you need to take pool towels with you. The beds will be changed each weekend if you are going for longer than a week.

2. Are there any extra charges?
No, except for central heating when needed, November to March (some years part of April and October).

3. Which are the best airports to use from the UK?
- The nearest aiport is Perugia (thirty minutes) and from December 20, 2006 there are three Ryanair flights a week from Stansted on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. . There are direct flights from Gatwick to Florence (90 minutes) which is the next nearest. All the other airports are between 90 and 150 minutes away.
Many people from Britain fly from Stansted with Ryanair. Their other destinations are Pisa, Forli-Bologna, Ancona and Rome. For our area Forli is excellent because within fifteen minutes of the airport there is a dual carriageway road that has an exit just ten to fifteen minutes from most of the houses we rent; about 90 minutes altogether. Ancona is another favoured destination. It takes about the same time although the route is not so straightforward though we give detailed directions.
It is best to book the car rental at the time of booking the air tickets, particularly if you do it on-line.
Try ryanair.com and easyjet.
Easyjet fly to Bologna, Pisa and Rome from Stansted, Bristol, and Belfast including Rome flights from Gatwick. The drive will then take about 150 minutes by car.
British Airways and Alitalia fly to Pisa, Bologna and Rome and many guests use those routes.
BMi also fly to Italy from Heathrow.
There are new routes being opened from various UK regional airports eg Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Belfast, E. Midlands, Luton, Liverpool, Durham Tees; check the no-frills websites.

4. Which are the best inter-continental airports to use?
- Rome, Pisa, Florence, Bologna.

5. Do we need to rent a car?
- Yes, for the vast majority of our places. The rural area of Italy where we are situated, the Niccone valley and surrounding area, is very under-populated, so public transport is almost non-existent. The roads are consequently traffic-free.
It is possible to stay in Spello and Cortona without a car, but even here your options would be fewer.
Any more questions? email us at cordingley@atlas.co.uk

6. What is your cancellation policy?
The booking deposit is non returnable. As we only ask you to pay the final amount two months before the start, we do not usually
return any of that for a late cancellation. However, we look at each case and if the property is re-let we do return some or all of the money paid.
Europeans usually take out inexpensive holiday insurance to cover cancellation and general holiday risk.

7. Can extra people be accommodated?
The houses and apartments have beds as described on each webpage, and generally speaking these cannot be re-arranged, so each house has a maximum number of people who can be accommodated. We will ask you for names of people in your party and numbers of couples/singles so that out of the beds available, the right numbers can be prepared for you. We cannot accept extra people above the names we have on file, and owners/managers of houses will not admit a party with extra guests.

8. Is Italy an expensive country?
The small towns and villages of our area are not expensive. You can have a pizza for between €3 and €6 (£2 - £4), and a cappuccino from 85 cents (always less than €1). A quality meal will only be about €30 including wine. A supermarket trolley of foods will cost about the same as in the UK. Ice cream is the best in the world and costs very little. You can still get leather ware, pottery and art at bargain prices. The markets sell casual clothing, shoes, linen, leather goods at very low rates.
Train travel is highly susidised making it good value : the trains still run to time !
Tolls on the "autostrade" are very reasonable - about a third of the cost in France.
Tales in newspapers about "expensive Italy" refer to accommodation and meals in the large centres, Rome, Florence etc. The cost of domestic gas and electricity are very high which does not affect tourists except in the winter months but affects Italians greatly.
Italians believe the introduction of the euro has created massive inflation but to the regular foreign visitor there has been little noticeable change.
Although the areas in which we rent have foreign visitors through the year, they have not been given over to tourism as has happened in some parts of Italy. The cafes and restaurants are used by the local population too.

9. How does your booking process work?
We agree the rental of a particular house or apartment for stated dates by either email or telephone, and ask you to send a deposit as a confirmation of your intention. The house/apartment is not then advertised further for those dates.
We send a receipt for the deposit, usually by post, along with a date for final payment which is about 2 months before the planned rental. We also send an information form for you to fill in showing the names of guests and the numbers of couples/singles. There is a space to indicate if you need a cot. Then or later we need an eta to pass on to the owner or manager.
After full payment we send a further receipt and directions with a local map, also usually by post.